The Brazen Blade

by Billy Wong

  He exhaled. "Thanks for reminding me of that. To answer the question, though, I don't really have a plan..."

  "It'll be alright. If anything, I'll think of something that suits you."

  Zack grinned. "You can do that? I thought you were pretty adverse to leadership."

  "I mean, I could give some suggestions..." She wondered if he would be open to doing something in her monster fighting guild. It'd be better to start with two members instead of one, after all.

  They journeyed on, and early in the morning the town came into view. "When we meet Frederick," Zack asked, "do you think we should nab him quickly, hopefully before he can lead us into any ambush?"

  "I don't know, I haven't decided yet. Let's see how we feel after we've talked to him again. We can make up our minds then."

  They entered town. Not seeing Frederick outside, they went to the small, cottage-like inn. "Have you seen a young man around her height, dressed all in white?" Zack asked the voluptuous middle-aged woman wiping the tables with an old cloth.

  "You mean the other stranger, among the many visiting us these past days? Probably another deserting student I assume, but with strange fashion sense. Your friend is waiting upstairs, in the first room."

  Kath's alarm bells went off. "How many is 'many?'"

  "Just him and the two of you. I meant three youngsters like you is already a fair number, not that the school already sent a welcoming party ahead of you." Oh.

  They went upstairs and found there were only two rooms. Assuming the "first" one to be that closer to the steps, Kath tried the knob. Inside, Frederick sat on the simple bed facing away, towards the window. "You're here," he said. "I was hoping you'd change your minds."

  "How did you know it was us?" Zack asked.

  "I saw you reflected in the glass." Good awareness, Kath thought. Perhaps, assassin-like awareness.

  She walked up beside him, watching his body in an attempt to detect excessive tension which might indicate hidden motives. She couldn't see any, but that didn't mean he was innocent. "Where are we going then, and where does this enemy make his abode?"

  He unfurled a map, not unlike the one she had gotten used to while traveling. "You know the port of Genbald, correct?" She and Zack confirmed it. "Further east past Genbald stand the Dynard Mountains, in and around which monster activity has risen sharply in the last two months or so. It does not matter much where our enemy normally dwells, for right now we are almost certain his activities are based at the heart of these mountains. That is where we will confront him, and if fate be willing end his depravity for good. But first, we should join up with our allies who wait just before our goal."

  "You speak like an older man," Kath commented. He gave a pleased bow of his head. "Do you have a route planned out for us?"

  He traced one with his finger on the map. "We'll cross the plains and head east through the mountain pass, then continue east and south until we reach the Dynard Mountains. We will pick up my comrades on the way."

  Kath allowed a few seconds to pass in her approximation of a dramatic pause. "Actually... no we won't."

  Frederick lost his cool demeanor as his lips parted in surprise. "What?"

  "We still can't be sure if you can be trusted. So, instead of taking your route which might lead us right into an ambush, we'll go right through the Soullit Forest and head to the Dynard Mountains from there."

  "But our allies are waiting on part of my path we'd miss."

  "No they aren't, you're lying! You said they're waiting just before our goal. The only things we bypass by going through the forest are the plains and the mountain pass. Since there are still hundreds of miles between that pass and the Dynard Mountains, clearly you've contradicted yourself." She touched her hilt menacingly. "I could kill you right now for being an assassin."

  He raised his hands in a gesture for peace. "I am not an assassin! How can you not trust me? I wear all white, I showed you my tattoo..."

  "We would have to be incredibly gullible to believe those things guarantee innocence. Even in the legends, there is an evil swordsman called the White Demon."

  "And you did lie," Zack added. "The places we'd miss going through the forest are definitely not just before the stated goal."

  Frederick shook his head. "All right, I lied. But I just did it because I didn't want us to go through that forest which is full of monsters."

  Kath smirked. "So? Are you scared, champion of the Unstained Order? Even Zack was able to manage there, and he was weaker back then."

  "I managed mainly because of you and Marty," he reminded her.

  "Even so. You're probably as good now as Marty then, and I'm better than I was. So unless Fred here is piss poor..."

  Fred, as she'd named him in her mind, scowled. "I'm not scared. I'd just rather not risk our safety any more than we have to."

  "Our safety, or your pretty white garments?"

  "Maybe you should go a little easier," Zack whispered. "We aren't sure he's bad after all."

  "Relax," she replied in an equally low voice. "Even if he isn't bad, giving him a hard time should do him some good in terms of motivating his pride." Louder, she said, "I suppose we can not kill you for the time being. But if we reach the 'goal' and it turns out you've been stringing us along, you can guess what happens."

  "Why do you think I'm an assassin?" Fred demanded. "If I was an assassin, why wouldn't I kill you in your sleep while we travel together?"

  "You might. That's why you'll be sleeping... tied up."

  "Don't you think this might be a little much, Kath?" Zack asked.

  "He did say he would kill us in our sleep if he was an assassin. So since we don't know that he isn't..."

  "Yeah, but I kind of feel like he might be telling the truth."

  She glanced at the white-clad youth, who looked quite agitated, then back at her friend. "I do too. But since a feeling isn't fact, we'll err on the side of caution for now."

  "You're right. Although I'm not looking forward that much either to traveling through the Soullit Forest again."

  "You have Fred to blame for not choosing the forest as his preferred path. And since that isn't the best place for horses, I guess we'll be leaving them behind early for the school staff to pick up."

  #

  They entrusted their mounts to the innkeeper to hold onto until someone came to retrieve them and headed into the wood. The first day went calmly, though Fred looked unhappy as twigs and brambles tore at his clothes. Early in the next day, they heard a frightful cry from ahead. Kath drew her sword expecting a monster, but instead a wild-eyed buck bounded straight towards them. As she sidestepped, she saw blood covering its flank. The deer collapsed, tumbling head over heels, and when it came to a stop she saw its side was torn open, with exposed ribs.

  Loud steps came from the same direction the deer had. Kath turned from the dying animal to face what ambled into view. It resembled an upright bear with longer than normal fur, arms and legs similar to a giant man's only much hairier, and boarlike tusks protruding from its mouth. Spotting them, it spread its arms, threw back its head and roared. "Looks like it thinks we're trying to steal its meal," Zack said in a small voice as it stomped towards them. Fred pulled out two daggers from under his vest—she'd been wondering where he hid any weapons he had—and ran to meet it. Was he better than she'd given him credit for?

  The monster backhanded him. He dropped like a stone at its feet and lay still. Braver maybe, then, but better ability wise not so much. Kath wasn't too certain how well she'd perform against the thing herself, though. She chopped at its chest, but while the edge drew blood unlike against the dog-lizards before, the thick fur and hard muscle beneath prevented it from cutting deeply. A huge right paw crashed against her face stunning her, and it followed up with its left paw, claws ripping her cheek the second time. It raised its right arm again, but she interrupted the blow by sticking the point of her sword through its palm. Bellowing in pain, it yanked its arm back, dragging her towards it. She
kicked at its knee, but probably hurt her shin on the thick bone more than she hurt it. She drew a dagger and stabbed twice into its belly, then freed her sword from its hand with a twist and tried to ram the larger blade home in its gut too. Quicker than expected, it struck her shoulder with its uninjured paw. The impact threw off her aim, so that her thrust only grazed its side. It stomped forward and fell on her, bearing her to the ground, and as its weight crushed the breath from her she lost her grip on her hilts.

  She grabbed its wrists to try and prevent it from clawing her face off, but it surprised her by being flexible enough to still throw a dazing elbow to her skull, then another. Her vision swam, and the ground appeared to tilt. Its tusks flashed down, but she managed to land a knee to its lower jaw which stopped it for the moment. Zack had circled behind it and now jumped on its back, stabbing his sword down between its shoulders. It reared up, throwing him off so that he landed in a pile of leaves behind it. Kath lurched up still unsteady, thinking how to drive the still embedded blade deep, only to watch it whip a leg up. The hell, it fights that much like a man? she thought right before its kick collided with her head. It was like getting hit with a great log. She toppled backward with no control over her body, her leg twisting painfully under her. Even that sensation seemed hardly enough to keep her awake, as her consciousness started to fade out.

  The creature's massive shadow fell over her, and its arms swung down. Regaining enough will to fight for her life, she tucked her chin enough to save her throat, but its claws scraped it and dug into her chest. Her sword lay out of reach, but she was able to grasp her dagger and plunge it into its eye. She rolled out from under it while it whimpered and snatched up the longer blade. As it bumbled forward in its agony, she jumped clumsily due to her hurt leg to slash at its throat.

  Her blow passed over its head as it dropped to its knees, and she fell on her side. For a moment she thought it was being annoyingly agile again, then realized Zack had hamstrung it from behind. "Excellent timing!" she gasped.

  "Thanks," he said, not seeming to register her sarcasm. He grabbed his sword's hilt and pushed it deeper several times, the beast's cries growing weaker until the tip burst through its chest and it flopped down dead. "You okay, Kath?"

  She felt dizzy to the point of nausea, bled from an ear, and her chest and the knee of her twisted leg throbbed. But she'd had worse. "Yeah, I just got kicked in the head by a bear. Glad you got to kill something."

  He smiled weakly. "Guess you have experience with another kind of monster now. What about him?" They rolled Fred carefully to his back and looked him over. He was unconscious, but unless his concussion proved unexpectedly bad, he should be fine. "Maybe he legitimately isn't an assassin after all?"

  "Or, he could just have been chosen not because of how good he is, but how young and trustworthy he looks so he can lead us into a trap. Still remains to be seen whether he'll betray us. Think you could heal him to speed his waking up though, since it's not a fatal wound?"

  "It may not be fatal, but seeing that he's out, if I heal it I might faint instead. Which wouldn't particularly be helpful."

  Kath pouted. "Aw, I just wanted to see you use your gift for once. Wait, I got an idea! How about you heal my cheek wounds? They're not too bad, and certainly shouldn't put you in a coma or anything."

  He touched his hand to her cheek and a gentle warmth flowed over her face, pushing away the pain. When he finished and she felt the skin, she found the cuts were gone. "Amazing... thanks. How do you feel?"

  Zack clutched his belly with a grimace. "Stomach... hurts."

  She blinked. "I guess the negative effects aren't always that closely matched to the injuries healed?"

  He hobbled with buttocks pinched behind a tree. "You might want to hold your nose and move upwind..."

  #

  Fred soon woke and they continued on. He looked embarrassed at being taken out of the fight so quickly, and his downcast expression made Kath feel bad enough for him not to rub it in. She did ask, though, "Why only daggers? They aren't exactly heavy duty weaponry against armored men or monsters."

  "I've trained with a few weapons and they're the ones I do best with, like extensions of my fists."

  "That's not always a good thing when you consider they barely have more reach than your fists. When you have time, you should learn at least one longer weapon and carry that when you travel too, for encounters like we just had."

  He gave a small nod, then asked, "If you don't end up killing me, you mean?"

  "I'll only kill you if you're an assassin." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you admitting to being an assassin?"

  "No! It's just you're so on edge around me, I fear it won't take much to convince you to murder me."

  "Kath won't kill you if you're innocent," Zack said. "So don't betray us and you'll be fine."

  Fred remained quiet for a while, and Kath grew very suspicious. If he wasn't an assassin, why didn't he just reaffirm he wouldn't turn on them? Though she had begun warming up to him, she steeled herself again to be prepared to kill him if needed. "Would you ever sacrifice yourself for the greater good?" he asked eventually.

  She studied his expression, but couldn't read it well. "I don't know, I never thought about it. I mean, I'm sure there are causes a single person should be willing to die for in theory, but everyone has some selfishness in them. Anyway I'd rather look for solutions where nobody has to be sacrificed, except those who commit terrible wrongs."

  "I don't know if I could sacrifice myself," Zack said. "I know it isn't very heroic to say, but it would take a whole lot of guts to willingly go to one's death. I have doubts I could go through with it."

  Fred shrugged. "At least you're honest. Where I grew up though, it was ingrained into me that were things more important than oneself alone. If people tried harder to distance themselves from their natural 'selfishness' as you say, the world would probably be better for it."

  "Sure," Kath replied. "I admire those who are perhaps braver than myself. But just as everyone can't be the strongest, not everybody can be the bravest either."

  "Both of you are fairly brave, seeking out the danger you face instead of hiding from it and risking yourself for the sake of friends respectively. There seems to be much potential in you still."

  Maybe instead of him being an assassin, his order faced an overwhelmingly strong enemy and they expected many who stood on their side would have to give up their lives to stand a chance at victory? That wasn't an assured sacrifice, though, and Kath thought she could brave such poor odds if enough was at stake. To save her brother, for example, she'd surely fight someone as strong as Deidre to the death. She probably wouldn't win, but shit, she would give it everything she had. The thought of likely dying still scared her more than a bit. And if she failed would the attempt, even if noble, really have been worth it?

  Her view of Fred wavered with the possibilities she considered about his background, yet she remained cautious and tied him up every night. They had almost reached the northern edge of the forest when at dinnertime, they heard a screech behind them. A heavily muscled long-necked bird with four legs, nearly ten feet tall, dashed into the clearing where they had made camp. Kath leapt to her feet and brandished her blade at it. "Dammit, I'd hoped we could get through having fought only one monster."

  The bird seemed distracted, and already bore fresh bleeding wounds. It took a second before focusing on her and clacked its beak. She drew back her sword. She hoped Zack was circling around to its rear again, as he seemed to do well there. But before anyone could engage, a large figure burst from the same direction it had come from and darted past it—firelight glinting off a swung blade. Two of the bird's legs on the same side came off at the knees, and it fell over. The hooded man who had severed them jumped on it and plunged a huge sword into its neck, twisted until its head dropped and it spasmed in death. Now that it was still enough to see clearly, the sword looked familiar... as did its wielder's figure. The man turned.

  "Sorry abou
t interrupting your meal by chasing my sparring partner here," Leroy said. "But, looks like I finally caught up with you."

  Kath ran over and hugged him. Even though she hadn't let it show much, she had become increasingly worried about the level of danger they might soon face. The presence of another strong friend certainly alleviated that somewhat. But then she asked, "What are you doing here? Didn't you say you couldn't come because you wouldn't get away with it?"

  "Yeah. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't miss out on another adventure or the chance to help my friends. So here I am."

  "To be honest, I'm really glad to see you. I hope you don't regret it, though."

  He guffawed. "Regret it? I don't regret anything I do! Besides, with my talents I'm sure I can find another military school that'll accept me even if this one won't take me back."

  Kath thought maybe the same could apply for herself, though she wasn't sure that would satisfy her family who had always traditionally attended the Iron Sword school. "And if not, you could join my monster fighting guild."

  "That sounds fun."

  Zack added, "Maybe we could fight human monsters like Lord Parr sometimes, too."

  "We?" Kath asked.

  "Just thinking aloud. If you don't think I'd be good enough..."

  "Actually, you'd be quite welcome," she said, and he smiled.

  Leroy looked at Fred, who eyed him warily. "So how's the new guy been so far? Fill me in on what's going on."

  They told him everything they knew so far, and Kath concluded, "Since we don't know if he isn't an assassin, we still keep him tied up every night when we sleep."

  "That sounds like a bit much, don't you think? He doesn't seem too bad, I doubt he'd stab us in our slumber."

  "You don't even know him." Kath and Zack didn't really, either.

  He crossed his arms confidently across his chest. "It's just a feeling I have. You're probably afraid he's a good actor, but nobody's good enough to fool me. Because there are three of us now, why don't we all take turns keeping watch and then he won't have to be tied up?"